is NASA really commited to the Orion program.I feel that Space X has taken the high ground.This my first Q on the forum from Ireland.The Mars mission has taken off here in Ireland big time.Thank you for any answers.

Hi, welcome! I don't think we have any regular posters from the Emerald Isle. I'm from The Netherlands. We should make a map some time .

Also, good question. So far, SpaceX are focussing on capturing a good chunk of the satellite launch market with Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. Also, they're working on readying Falcon 9 and Dragon for flying people into Low Earth Orbit. As you say, they're making good progress on that, with another cargo Dragon launching in a month or two, and then one more in December.

Orion is intended to fly people farther out, to the Moon or to an asteroid. So it's not really designed for the same mission. Orion and especially the Service Module is larger and heavier than Dragon, and a Falcon 9 wouldn't be able to launch it into LEO (although Falcon Heavy would, it could just about launch two at the same time ). Anyway, they have to finish the design and build one before they can launch it.

So yes, SpaceX is ahead of Orion, but it's doing something a bit less difficult. And there is progress on Orion, just look in the News section for some recent updates about parachute and capsule tests. So we'll see if Orion really launches in 2014, and what SpaceX has on the table by then. And we'll have to see if Orion's rocket, the Space Launch System, is ever built. With all the political shenanigans surrounding it, there's no way of telling that...

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